Submarine salvage apparatus



Sept. 22, 1931. A. STAVE 1,324,694

SUBMARINE SALVAGE APPARATUS I Filed Dec. 6, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet l Fla 2'- Arafiam fave ATTORNEY Sept. 22, 1931. A. STAVE 7 1,824,694

SUBMARINE SALVAGE APPARATUS Filed Dec. 6, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 HunTmi- Ahafiam Slave;

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Sept. 22, 1931. A'. STAVE 1,324,694

SUBMARINE SALVAGE APPARATUS Filed Dec. 6, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fia6.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 22, 1931" FABRAHAM. STAVE or BiioonLyn, new Yon]: j

solar/rennin snnvaennnrnnia'ros I Application filed December arses. Serial No. 412-,202.

This invention relates to marine salvage apparatus and has particular reference to means for raising submerged vessels such as submarines.

The general object of the present'invention is to provide a salvage apparatus for submerged vessels which is simple" in constructiom positive in action and readily released for operation either from within or from the o-utside ot the submerged vessel.

A more particular object of thepresent invention is to provide signalling means for indicating the location of the submerged vessel either by day or by night.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for automatically releasing the signalling device after the vessel has been submerged a predetermined length offtime.

Still another object of this invention is to provide means whereby a suitable lifting cable may be attached to the hull of the submerged vessel. i

Another chest is to provide means whereby the signalling means may be released from any part of the vessel if desired.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter specifically pointed out, or will become apparent, as the specification proceeds. p

With the above indicated objects in view, the invention resides inpcertainnovel constructions and combinations and arrangement of parts. clearly described in the following specification and fully illustrated 1n the accompanying drawings; which latter show embodiments of the invention as at presentpreterred, j I

Figure 1 is a view of a submerged vessel to which the present invention is attached, illustrating the method of guiding a cable or hawser into engagement with the hull.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section illustrating the arrangement of the parts comprising the signalling buoy and correlated apparatus. c

Figure 3 is a plan view partly inrsection lllHStI'iltlIlg the means for operating the valves from any part of the vessel.

Figure 4 is a detail view in section showing the means for preventing the valve operatin-gshafts from't-urning when the valves are being opened from outside of the vessel by-a diver. l V i Figure 5 is-avert'cal section illustrating the meansf'for'attaching arcable or hawser to the hull'for lifting purposes. c a 'Figure' 6 isa' top plan view of the door of the-compartment for the signalling buoy. Figure 7 is a. vertical section illustrating the means for operating the valvesafter a L predetermined period of time during which the vessel has beenisubmergedh I It is generally knownthat occasionally submarines accidentally-x be ome disabled and are unable to rise to the surface owing i to explosions, disabling of the propulsive machinery and other causes, and it. isthe general purpose of this invention to provide an improved means whereby such vessels may indicate the fact'that they are in dis- "tress, which means also may be used for the purpose of attaching a cable 'for use in rais ing the vessel.

The numeral 1, Figure '1, refers to the hull of a submarine which is provided with a plurality of compartments 2, the compartments being disposed. atsuitable and advaniagiaouspoints along theupper side of the The compartments 2, are normally closed by suitable doors .3 hinged at 4 to'thechull plates. Thedoors 3 are preferably-formed so as'to include an air "chamberlfi which assists in opening the door in a manner to be more fully describedzlaterr A suitable serrated rackbar 6 pivoted to the door 3 at 7 engages a projection 8 attached/to the inside of the compartment for the purpose of holding the door 3 open once it has been opened in a manner to be described later.

Supported on brackets 9 within the com.- partment 2 is a buoy 10 to which is attached a cable 11. The other end of the cablell is wound in a reel '12 supported between uprights 13 formed as parts of a frame fastened to the main frame of the vessel.

The cable 11 passes through the center of an upright memberorprojection 14 formed as part of the frame just mentioned." As shown inFigure 5, a central hole is provided in the frame so that the cable 11 is free to move through the center of the frame. The edges of the hole are rounded as at 15 to prevent'cutting or chafiing of the cable when it is being wound or unwound from the reel '12.

The projection 14 is provided with a transverse passage 16 which extends completely through the projection and houses two pivoted pawls 17 spring urged upwardly so as to normally lie with their longitudinal axes horizontal.

The cable 11 is not directly fastened to the buoy 10 but is attached to the under side of a cage like member 18 which is in turn attached to the buoy by means of ring; 7

The member 18 is composed of a ringshaped rim 19 attached to arms which converge to a cap piece 20 to which is attached the ring by means of which the member is fastened to the buoy. The projection 14 extends upwardly and comes to a smooth point from the center of which emerges the cable 11. v

The rim 19 is-adapted to co-operate with v the pawls 17 in a manner which will be more fully described.

Normally the buoy rests on the brackets 9 so that the cageshaped member 18 lies just above the apex of the projection 14.

'Thebuoy 10 is provided with a chemical flare: 21' and a suitable electric lamp 22 which are adapted to be ignitedand lighted respectively after the buoy has been released. a

The door 3 is normally held closed when the vessel is submerged due to 'the pressure ofthe water on the outside and is released by mechanism nowto be described. 1 Pivoted tothe door 3 on the outside are latch pieces 23 which are forked at the ends opposite to the pivots sov as to embrace square nuts 24. A suitable spring 25 bears against'each latch piece 23 and holds it in place with the fork surrounding the nut. Each of the nuts. 24 is screwed to the end of a shaft 26 extending from within the hull.

Each shaft 26 carries a pinion 27 which meshes with a rack 28 common to all of the shafts 26. The shafts 26 are journalled in suitable brackets 29 supported by the wall of the compartment 2. A suitable hand wheel 30is provided whereby one of the shafts 26 may be turned. Owing to the rack 28 both shafts 26 will be turned whenever :the handwheel is turned.

A third shaft 31, carrying a pinion 32 is journaled in suitable brackets carried by the wall of the compartment 2. The pinion 32 meshes with the rack 28 and by providing suitable gearing connected to the shaft 31 the shafts 26 can be-turned from any de sired point inside of vessel. 7 7

valve mechanism in which the seat of the valve is the plate comprising the door 3 while the valve stem is the shaft 26. The enlarged holes in the door 3 permit water to enter the compartment 2 whenever the shafts 26 are turned so as to unscrew the nuts 24 from the shafts, this operation be ing accomplished by means of the hand wheel 30. The forks formed in the ends of the latches 23 serve to prevent the nuts from turning. I

The operation of these parts is as follows: If the submerged vessel should find itself in distress and unable to rise to the surface owing to accident, it may indicate its position to vessels on the surface in the following manner;

The hand wheel 30 is turned until the nuts 24 become unscrewed from their normal position in which the packings 33 are clamped firmly against the hull effectively closing the openings, with the result that water rushes through the openings into all of the compartments 2. When the nuts become completely unscrewed the doors 3 are released but may still remain closed due to the difference in pressure of the water on the outside and any trapped air on the inside of the compartments. Eventually the forces due to the trapped air, the buoyancy of the buoys 10 and the buoyancy due to the air chambers 5 in the doors 3 exceeds the external hydrostatic pressure with the result that the doors 3 will be opened freeing the buoys 10.

The buoys 10 will now rise rapidly to the 1' surface unwinding the cables 11 from the reels 12. -During the passage through the water the flares 21 become ignited by contact with the salt water and the electric lamps 22 are lighted by suitable trip switches 57 connected by means of breakable wires'to the hull as at 34, Figure 2..

When the flares or lights attract a vessel and it is desired to attach hawsers for the holes in the cap pieces 20. Heavy lifting hawsers 35 are also attached to the cap pieces 20 and the cables 11 are attached to the buoys 10. The cage like members 18 are released and permitted to sink into the water, the hawsers 35 being paid out so as to permit the members '18- to slide news-ale cables.

When the eege-likemembei-s s reach the pawls 17 and push the pawls down rocking them on their pivots The rim 17 due to the weight of thecageaike member; and the attached hawser aainoves com letel past the pawls 17 and rests onto oljthe frame which includes the members 13; The pawls 1 7 snap upunder the influence of their springs ui'itil the ends of the pawls overlie the rim 19. w 4

If the hawsers are new attached to suitable lifting apparatus, and pulled towards the surface the rim 1-9 raised until it engages the pawls 17 and will be held. Continued lifting force ap lied to thehawsers will now be transmitted to the hull through the frame which includes the members 13 with the result thatthe submerged vessel will be pulled to the surface.

It sometimes ha pens that a vessel such as a submarine becomes disabled in such a are overcome by fumes or killed outright and unable to release the buoys.- For thisre'ason, the mechanism comprisingthe latches 23,:"ancl the spring-.25

have been provided. p y

A diver by breaking or bending back the springs 25 and lifting the latches 23 will be able to unscrew the nuts '24 by means of a c through a hole 37 which permits free entry of water. A piston 88 movable within the chamber 36 and urged upwardly by aspring 39, is connected to a clock work mechanism as follows: The piston rod 40 is formed with a rack engaging a pinion on a shaft which is geared to' an index plate 41-. A suitable movable arm 42 provided with a trip pin 43, is adapted to be set in a number of positions about the disk 41 which is geared to rotate once in 12 hours or anyot-her suitable period of time. A ratchet and pawl movement car= ried by the shaft 44 which also has fast to it the pinion meshing withthe rack carried by the piston rod, drives an e scapement mecha nism timed to make the disc 41 rotate once in 12 hours. Interposed in the path of the pin 43 is an arm 44 connectedto an air valve 45 in an air line between an air reservoir 46 and a ressure cylinder 47 The piston in 5 the cylinder 47 drives a rack 48 meshing with a pinion 49,carrie'd by*a stub shaft. A suitable bevel gear 50 fast to the pinion 49'drives a similar bevel gear fastened to one of the shafts 26; A port- 51 open to the atmosphere normally prevents possible leakage past the valve 45 from operating the piston in the pressure cylinder 47;

The operation of-the parts is as follows: Whcn the submarine sinks beneath the surface" the pressure of the water on the piston 38' "start's-t-ofofce the piston rod and rack 40 with the indexing'cdisk 41 and the escapeinent mechanism; 'The escapement mechanism resists the motion of the piston 38 s engagement with the lever4'4 opening the downwardly driving'the gearing meshed normally closed air valve 45 closing the port 7 51 and admitting air to the pressure cylinder which operatesto turn the'shaft 26 through the medium of the rack 48, pinion 49 and, the associated bevel gearing; Turning of he shafts 26 effects unscrewing of the nuts the" manner previously described. 1 If it'should happen that the submarine should rise to the surface before the index plate 41 has been turned an amount suilicient to bri g; the pin 43 into operative engagement with the arm 44, the pressure on the iston 38 will berelievedand the spring 39 will restore the piston to its former position at the top of the pressure chamber. This movement will be permitted by the ratchet and pawl movement carried by the shaft supporting the pinion driven by the rack 40 without affecting the escapeinent mechanism.

Itis necessary to provide means for preventing the shafts 26 from turning'at such times when it is necessary to unscrew the nuts 24 from outside of the submerged vessel. This mechanism consists 1 of suitable ratchetwheels 52 carried by theshafts 26. Suitable pawls 58 pivoted to brackets attached to the walls of the con'lpartments 2 prevent the shafts 26 from turning whenever the nuts 24 being unscrewed but permit turning of the shafts 26 to unscrew the nuts 24 whenever the shafts are turned by either the handwheel or the pressure cylinder.

It is contemplated that several of the compartments 2 and associated buoys 10 be pro- Vided for each vessel in order to distribute the lifting force advantageously over the hull and also to bring the stress on the pawls 17 and the fr'ameincluding the members 13 admitsof considerable modification without departing from the lnvention; therefore, it

is the wish not to be limited to the recis arrangements shown and described,.which are, as aforesaid by way of illustration merely. In other words, the scope of protection contemplated is to be taken solely from the appended claims, interpreted as broadly as is consistent with the prior art. 7

lVhat is claimed as new, is:

1. In a submarine salvage apparatus, a buoy chamber, a buoy retained in said chamher, a normally non-turnable valve member, a normally turnable valve member, means whereby said non-turnable valve member is rendered turnable, and means whereby said turnable member is rendered non-turnable.

2. Submarine salvage apparatus including in combination with a submarine having a compartment therein, a cover for sait compartment, said cover having an air chamber therein, a buoy supported in said chamber, a reel supporting frame at the base of said compartment, a reel supported on said frame, a cable wound on said reel and connected to said buoy, said frame including an upwardly extending portion having a central hole through which said cable extends, said upwardly extending frame portion having a transverse passage extending completely therethrough, a pair of spring urged pivoted pawls oppositely mounted in said transverse passage and adapted to normally extend beyond the sides of said upwardly extending frame portion, a cage-like member attached to said buoy, said cable extending through the upper part of said cage-like member, said cage-like member having an internal rim adapted to latch over and grasp said pawls when lowered over said upwardly extending frame portion, and means for flooding said compartment and releasing said compartment cover to discharge said buoy, said cage-like member being removable from said buoy and being adapted to guide a hawser down upon said cable into lifting engagement with said upwardly projecting frame portion.

3. Submarine salvage apparatus including in combination with a submarine having a compartment'therein, a cover for said compartment, a buoy supported in said chamber, a reel supporting frame in said compartment, a reel supported on said frame, a cable wound on said reel and connected to said buoy, said frame including an upwardly extending portion having a central hole through which said cable extends, a cage-like member attached to said buoy, said cable extending through the upper part of said cage-like member, said cage-like member and said upwardly extending frame portion having cooperative means to lock the same together when said cage-like member is lowered over said upwardly extending frame portion, releasable locking means for said cover including latch pieces hingedly mounted on said cover, a shaft extending through the hull of the submarine and through said cover, adjacent to each latch piece, a nut at the external upper end ofsaid shaft, a packing disc beneath said nut, the latch device having a forked end to prevent rotation of said nut, a spring member to hold said latch piece in place against said nut, means to rotate said shaft to move said nut away from said packing discand permit water to enter saidi'compartment to release said cover and discharge said buoy, said cagel'ike member; being removable from said buoy and being adapted to guide a hawser down upon said cable into lifting engagement with said upwardly projecting frame portion.

4. Submarine salvage apparatus including in combination with a submarine having a compartment therein, a cover for said compartment, said cover having an air chamber therein, a buoy supported in said chamber, a reel supporting frameyat thebase of said compartment, a reel sup ported on said frame, a cable wound on said reel and connected to said buoy, said frame including an upwardly extending portion having a central hole through which said cable extends,'said upwardly extending frame portion having a transverse passage extending completely'therethrough, a pair of spring urged pivoted pawls oppositely mounted in said transverse passage and adapted to normally extend beyond the sides of said upwardly extending frame portion, a cage-like member attached to said buoy, said cable extending through the upper part of said cage-like member, said cage-like member having an internal rim adapted to latch over and grasp said pawls when lowered over said'upwardly extending frame portion, releasable locking means for said coverincluding latch pieces hinged- 1y mounted on said cover, a shaft extending through the hullof the submarine and through said cover, adjacent to each latch piece, a nut at the external upper end of said shaft, a packing disc beneath said nut, the latch device having a forked end to pre vent rotation of said nut, a spring member to hold said latch piece in place against said nut, means to rotate said shaft to move signature I V i ABRAHAM STAVE. 

